Burqas, Bindis, and Bangles: The Femme Revolution of India
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Burqas, Bindis, and Bangles: The Femme Revolution of India

Ishmeet Nagpal    From a continuous sit-in at Shaheen Bagh to forming human chains around their fellow male protestors to ward off the police, women are leading the charge of India’s awakening and revolution. Yet, it is still commonplace for various male leaders to use, “Choodiyan pehen lo” (“Go wear bangles”) as a derogatory slur…

How Women Took Charge of the Dandi March

How Women Took Charge of the Dandi March

Malavika Karlekar   As reports continue to pour in of nonviolent protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the abiding trope is of women at the forefront, whether at Shaheen Bagh, Park Circus or venues at Mumbai, Pune, Patna, Lucknow … with each passing day, spaces of protest are growing. Women’s involvement in political protest…

Narendra Modi’s Reckless Politics Brings Mob Rule to New Delhi
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Narendra Modi’s Reckless Politics Brings Mob Rule to New Delhi

Siddharth Varadarajan Don’t be confused by the big media narrative of pro- and anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protesters or “two sides” fighting it out in the streets of Delhi. And for heaven’s sake don’t fall for the ludicrous claim made by the minister of state for home affairs G. Kishan Reddy that the continuing violence is…

Learning from King’s Last Campaign
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Learning from King’s Last Campaign

Jessicah Pierre   As we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., it’s natural to remember his courageous advocacy for racial equity. But before he was assassinated, King had also begun to broaden his efforts to unify people around economic justice.   That’s worth remembering today.   In December 1967, King, the Southern Christian…

Supreme Court’s (New) Reservations Judgment and Its Discontents
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Supreme Court’s (New) Reservations Judgment and Its Discontents

Gautam Bhatia   On 7 February, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court handed down a judgment holding that Article 16(4) of the Constitution is only an enabling provision, and does not confer a “right” to reservations. The context of the case was as follows: in 2012, the government of Uttarakhand decided to fill up…

An Open Letter to the Citizens of India
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An Open Letter to the Citizens of India

Constitutional Conduct Group   A group of 106 former senior bureaucrats with the government of India have organised themselves as the Constitutional Conduct Group. Most of them were IAS, and include IPS, IRS, IFS officials. They include top former Secretaries, DGPs and even RAW officials. The signatories include former National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon; former…

It’s Time to Tell Amit Shah and Narendra Modi, ‘Hum Sab JNU’
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It’s Time to Tell Amit Shah and Narendra Modi, ‘Hum Sab JNU’

Siddharth Varadarajan   Let us set aside the anger and revulsion, disbelief, helplessness and perhaps even fear that many of you would have felt over Sunday night’s events at Jawaharlal Nehru University, and let us also postpone the question of who those masked thugs were that beat up students and faculty, and destroyed public property…

Shaheen Bagh Heralds a New Year With Songs of Azaadi
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Shaheen Bagh Heralds a New Year With Songs of Azaadi

Samrat Chakrabarti   It began simply and without fuss. On the night that Jamia Millia Islamia was attacked, ten women walked out of their homes and onto the road next door that connects Delhi with Uttar Pradesh with a resolve not to move, come what may.   These women who describe themselves as jahil and…